PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Lucky
Last night my parents came to my rec-league basketball game. I started off a little shaky. My left knee was hurting and I missed my first two shots. But when I finally warmed up (at 47 years old, it takes a while), I was able to get some boards and steals and went on to score 14.
After the game my mom and dad told me how much fun it was to see me play. Over twenty years ago they thought they had lost me forever when I was hit by a train and nearly killed, so they certainly never expected to continue to see me on the basketball court.
I gave them each a big hug. It was their support that helped me to survive and them being at my game reminded me of how lucky I am to be alive and how thankful I am that I can be on the court, doing what I love.
Take a moment today to think of some things that you’re thankful for?
Monday’s Pen to Paper: How Do You Write?
Writing is hard. Writing a book seems impossible. Even if you’ve done it once, it still seems like an insurmountable task to take all the bits and pieces of a story and bring them together as one. And what is interesting is that everyone goes about this process a little differently. What works for one person may not work for another.
I remember my writing instructor, Laura Kalpakian from my University of Washington Memoir class, telling us that each day she started from the beginning and journeyed toward the end of the story. This is how my daughter writes.
I don’t work this way. I write in bits and pieces. I write sections of the story that come to me, that seem vivid and alive in my mind, and then overtime bring them together and find an order to their chaos.
This method worked for me when I wrote Back on the Court, and it is how I’m writing my YA novel. I am not afraid to try new ideas, but I also like to remind myself that the creative process is different for everyone and that I must do what works for me.
Tell me about your writing process?
WRITING PROMPT: Stella wanted to throw her computer on the floor, but instead she…
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Start Your Day Off Right
It’s been over an hour since my kids headed to school, but I know it’s almost time for the local grade school to start up because there is a ball bouncing outside. Every day, rain (and it can be dumping!) or shine, my neighbors youngest son hits our basketball court before leaving to school.
What a perfect way to start the day!
Start your day off doing something you love.
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Fighting to Read
In our house we have three Young Adult Fiction readers. Last weekend I brought home five new YA Novels from Portland. It quickly became a battle for the books.
I bought the books and should have priority right? Well, I’m also a slow reader compared to both of my kids and often I have less time to read. So I gave-in knowing that the books would be ready for me to read in 24-48 hours. Still I didn’t just hand them over, it was more fun to watch each kid fight a little when they wanted a new book…that I had just started to read.
It’s been one week, and both kids have finished all of the books they desired. I am one chapter into Breaking Point, four chapters into Reached, five pages into Steelheart, Drooling over the thought of starting Fragments, savoring the cover of Because It Is My Blood and skimming through another non-fiction book Happiness is an Inside Job, the words of which I’m trying to take to heart, trying not to be frustrated with the lack of time to sit down and read.
So, this morning, before I wrote this blog, I made my breakfast, brewed a cup of tea, grabbed a book, plopped myself on the couch and read a chapter.
I found a moment for me.
Fight for some time for yourself. Crack a book and read.
WRITING PROMPT: Sandy opened the book and…
Meet Sonya
Meet Sonya
Sonya Elliott's memoir, Back on the Court: A Young Woman's Triumphant Return to Life, Love & Basketball, is her story of finding hope in the wake of tragedy after she and her fiancé were hit by a train. She blogs about writing, basketball, and life and is currently working on a Young Adult Novel and a Non-Fiction Coaching book. Stories of her career as a fashion model are woven through her memoir, as both the Soloflex and Easy Spirit Shoes commercials were filmed during that time period, and this unique and intriguing business continues to be a part of her life.
Sonya played basketball at Eastern Washington University and was a starter for the Big Sky Champion team that went to the 1987 NCAA tournament. She coached for almost 25 years and was voted Seattle Times Coach of the Year, Seattle Officials Women's Basketball Association Coach of the Year, and twice voted Metro League Coach of the Year. She loves the game of basketball and is thankful, not only for her husband and kids but for her ability to continue to get back on the court.
Blog
PeaceLoveBasketball: Turn Up The Intensity With Fun
Often half way through the season it’s normal to see players that look a little down, maybe bored, and less intense. This drives me crazy, so each year I have to remind myself, and the players, that basketball is fun.
We are nearing the end of our regular season play and the girls have finals next week, so it’s been difficult to keep the intensity up in practice. At Tuesday’s practice, I wanted to put them on the line and run them for two hours, but I restrained, and then yesterday instead of running lines, I got music going in the gym and split the girls into two teams for basketball/conditioning relays, and then we finished with a short scrimmage and shooting. The girls got a nice workout, I felt satisfied that they got some good work in, and I saw lots of […]
Monday’s Pen to Paper: Life
Do you ever look in the mirror, or see a picture of yourself, and wonder what the hell happened? I’ve done this a lot lately. I mean, I look fine, I just look…old. Older than I used to look. And that’s okay, kind of, it’s just hard to wrap my mind around sometimes. The wrinkles, the thin skin, the grey, the aches and pains (well these I don’t see in the mirror, I just feel them). But what’s funny, is that in so many ways, I still feel like I’m in my 30’s, yet I’m closing in on 50.
50 years old!
My age has never really bothered me. In fact when I tell some one my age I alway say I’m almost 49. I have always gone to the next highest number and then said “almost.” Now I’m thinking I should change that habit.
As I have gotten older, life has become a […]
PeaceLoveBasketball Friday: Support at the High School level is a game changer
“We just beat last year’s State Champions!” echoed from the locker room as my assistant coaches and I gathered to enter for our post-game talk. The girls continued, “And did you see the crowd? Our entire student section was standing and cheering…for a GIRL’S BASKETBALL GAME!”
We walked in. Need I say more.
Seated on the bench in front of me there are eight girls who are totally invested in our program and more importantly in one another. This is a special team.
And this team has support that is unprecedented. It hasn’t always been this way, high school athletics are under a lot of scrutiny these days, but this year we have complete support and I know the players feel it. We have an administration that cares, an athletic director that has our backs, a phenomenal coaching […]
Follow Sonya